Memoirs of a Metalbender
by IGdude117
Summary: My name is Sang Hun, and I am (or was) a Metalbending Officer for the Republic City Police Department. I've seen a lot of crazy stuff in my career there, so I figured I'd share with the good citizens of the United Republic. Stories of high-speed chases, violent mysteries, chaotic skirmishes, and, of course, lots and lots of paperwork, will ensue.
1. Chapter 1: Forward

I guess the first thing most people assume about us is that we're constantly engaged in high-speed pursuits, whipping cables at Triad-members, Equalists, and rogue Spirits alike, and just generally tough-as-nails mover characters who don't have a care in the world.

And, I suppose, in the interests of being completely honest, the job is like that quite a lot- especially once Avatar Korra came to the city. After that, it was one thing after another- Amon, then that damned giant Spirit-monster thingy, then the airbender accidents, the rampant spirit vines, and, finally, the full-scale invasion by Kuvira and the Earth Empire.

The other half of that, though, is doing paperwork, patrolling the city, being bored in one of those damned airships, and other surprisingly mundane activities. That's the part no one ever thinks about; what happens when the 'daredevils' have to stay accountable to the people?

I've always been in Republic City, truth be told. My father was a factory worker for Cabbage Corp, which, if you believe his horror stories, was actually a lot worse than it seemed, while my mother was a primary school teacher

I was born right here in Republic City, in a smaller house right smack dab in the middle of Bouldertown Borough. Growing up wasn't too bad- we weren't on the street or anything like too many people were, but we still struggled. We didn't even get our radio until I was around ten.

School was an alright time for me, truth be told. I wasn't the most personable, or intelligent kid- I was content with being average, truth be told, but where I really came alive was bending class. I had figured out that I could earthbend when I was around eight, when I accidentally ripped up a section of pavement when I got infuriated at a neighborhood bully.

Since then, I learned the ins-and-outs of earthbending, and, not to brag, excelled at it. I wasn't a prodigy or anything, but I picked things up a bit quicker than most, and I entered the neighborhood metalbending dojo when I entered secondary school.

After school, when the decision for careers came up, I didn't really have a clear idea of what I wanted. I enjoyed painting, but I was nowhere near good enough to go pro. There was always joining the cab service, or, if too desperate, running jobs for the Triads, but I wasn't really at that point.

What really caught my eye was the United Forces recruiter with all his talk of 'seeing the world' and 'meeting new people'. Like a regular chump, I snapped that stuff straight up, and joined the United Forces straight out of secondary school.

You know, instead of going to university or something smart like that.

My military career was, thankfully, mostly uneventful. My one moment of action was a humanitarian mission to a part of the United Republic that got hit by a tsunami, but that was mostly just helping distribute aid and rations to those poor people.

What my time in the military did do was help me refine my skill at metalbending. My earthbending was improved a lot as well, but the art of metalbending was highly prized in the military, so I refined my skills through constant practice, drilling, and training.

So, when I was approached by good old Chief Beifong with a job offer, I took it in a heartbeat. Every earthbender in the world knew the name Beifong, and every metalbender in the United Republic knew that a job with the Republic City Police Department was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And the rest, I suppose, is history.

If you were to ask me to do it again, I'd agree without a second thought. I'd just want to be able to do it again without being as stupid as I was the first time.

* * *

Before I kick this story off in earnest, I'd like to thank a few people. First and foremost, I'd like to thank Chief Beifong for her tireless dedication to her subordinates, police work, and the law. Chief, you're an inspiration to all of us here, and I very much hope that you stay in your line of work for years to come.

I'd also like to thank my gorgeous wife, Linh, for her encouragement in writing this memoir and agreeing to marry a washed-up policeman like me.

Finally, I'd like to thank Yong, Hulin, Mei, Minjae, Mako, and the rest of the Republic City Police Department for their advice, input, and encouragement, as well as their loyalty to the people of Republic City.

Thank you. Truly.

* * *

 **Hey all,**

 **This is more or less a preview to a concept I've been working on for a while. I initially was torn between doing one of these for a United Forces soldier or a policeman, but binge-watching Korra Season 1 and watching how simply badass the metalbender police are inspired me to focus on the Republic City Police Department.**

 **As I said, this is very much a working concept, so I doubt that there will be any sort of regular update schedule, what with my other fics, but I just wanted to see what sort of a reception I would get from this.**

 **Feedback, as always, is welcome.**

 **-IGdude117**


	2. Chapter 2: Day One

The room was medium-sized, with intricate, angular silver patterns overlaid on steely black walls. Opposite the door, a large, dusty green chalkboard took up the majority of the wall. The jade green was faded with thousands upon thousands of prior diagrams and chalk lines, peeking out from the miasma like a fish.

The room was taken up by rows of desks, similar to those in classrooms. At present, these were filled with metalbending recruits, jawing, talking, and laughing raucously.

The building was the Metalbending Police Academy, which was located around fifty miles from the outskirts of the city. The drive in had been pleasant, actually, and the tree-covered landscape had been reminiscent of my time in the United Forces.

I looked to my left as a friendly-looking girl tapped me on the shoulder, smiling broadly.

"Hey, I'm Tarralikitak. What's your name?"

I held out my hand for her to shake uncertainly, the complex name going right over my head.

"Come again?"

She laughed brightly.

"I'm just messin' with ya. That's my birth name, but everyone just calls me Tarra. My parents were from the Northern Water Tribe."

I was a little surprised. Of course, I had grown up with kids from all four nations, but most of the Water Tribe kids _I_ knew had darker skin, blue eyes, and black or brown hair. The only traits that Tarra had was blue eyes. Her skin was paler, and her hair was more of a brighter brown.

"I'm Sang Hun. You know anyone in here?"

She shrugged.

"Can't say I do. What neighborhood are you from?"

"Kuei Street. It's in the middle-ish part of Bouldertown Borough."

She leaned forward intently, crossing her arms.

"No way! I used to live on 56th Street, when I was a kid. What school'd you go to?"

56th street was actually a neighborhood quite close to where I had grown up. The kids from that area were predominantly water tribe, and I had distinct memories of my buddies and I playing probending matches with some of the kids there.

"Bear Mountain Secondary School."

She grinned mischievously.

"I went to Zihuyan Secondary. Zihuyan Zebra-Seals all the way."

I smiled back. One of Bear Mountain's greatest foes in the amateur probending conference was the Zihuyan Zebra Seals. A lot of my buddies who had been really into probending in school had hated Zihuyan with a passion, but I had never really had a problem with that sort of thing. It all seemed kind of petty, really.

"So, how long you been bending-"

The conversation died down immediately as the doors slammed open with a concussive bang. Two men in full suits of Metalbender Police Armor strode in confidently.

"On your feet, maggots!" they barked.

Instinctively, I snapped to attention, giving my best parade ground stance that had been beaten into me during basic training. A few other people, I noticed did so as well, meaning that they had been in the military. That also meant that they were threats.

Another figure strode in, shoving through confused recruits before swirling around, facing towards the recruits. My heart rate picked up a bit as I recognized the face from countless magazine and newspaper covers.

Gray hair framed a steely, cold face. Two scars- no doubt the product of some tenacious battle- stared from her left cheek, barely drawing attention away from two hardened, lime-green eyes. A few scattered whispers broke out as the famed chief of police looked through them, her hawk-like eyes searching for any weakness.

"Spirits, Officer Sherak, what the _heck_ is this group of _worms_ doing here?"

"I believe they think they can be metalbending police, Chief, If I do say so myself," replied the tall, mustached officer to Beifong's left.

"I think you're right, Officer Sherak."

She paced around the front of the room.

"Make no mistake, you're all worms right now. I couldn't care less where you're from, what you've seen, what you've done, or who you are. All I care about is what you can do for me and for this city."

She paced down the central gap, in between the two blocks of recruits.

"Some of you think this training will be easy. These two officers and I can attest that it is _not_ going to be a walk in the park. By the time this day is over, half of you will be on a Satomobile home, and the other half will be wishing that they could be back at home with mommy and daddy."

She turned around sharply, walking back towards the front.

"And this will be the easy part. The time when we will push you beyond any limits you thought physically possible will be only the beginning. Because when you hit the beat- when you get out there in the streets, doing what we cops are duty-bound to do, you'll be wishing you could be back in training. Because the criminals out there- the Triads, the crooks, the bandits, the muggers, the radicals, _the Equalists_ \- they will _not_ hesitate to wipe you out of existence."

She stopped, turning around once more to regard the group of recruits.

"If you happen to luck your way through training and become one of _us_ \- "she gestured towards herself and the other two officers- "you will be giving your life over to the protection of this city's people. You will not hesitate to thrust yourself in between a criminal and a citizen, and you will fight for this city- no matter who threatens it."

"I'm hoping that you all can at least read, so I'm going to assume you know who my mother is. And I can tell you for damn sure that the worst I can put you through is _nothing_ compared to what she used to do."

She sighed once, as if reminiscing about times long past.

"Outside of this facility there is a road. Approximately five miles down this road, through the forest, is the recruit barracks. The first person to get there will get a hot meal. The last person to get there will be expelled from this Academy. Oh, and Officers Sherak and Chunso will be running with you, and if anyone even _thinks_ about earthbending, then you'll be out of this academy as well."

There was a moment of tense silence, as if we all hadn't heard what she said.

"What are you waiting for? GO!" she barked.

Hurriedly, I grabbed my bag and pushed through the swarm of scrambling recruits and burst through the doors, jogging out towards the sweltering forest.

* * *

Lookin back now, I was pretty dismissive of the Chief's comments, but they were very true. Even with the semi-rough upbringing and the years I spent in the United Forces, walking the beat was still one of the hardest times in my life.

In the end, I'm thankful I was pushed as hard as I was. It made me better.

* * *

I flopped into the first bed I got to exhaustedly, panting and sweaty from the heat outside. Beside me, Tarra collapsed into her bunk, heaving in exhaustion.

"Spirits… that was… tough."

I attempted to chuckle, but the best I could manage was something approaching a wheeze.

A medium-sized guy with Earth Kingdom features swung into the bunk ontop of me, making the bed creak dangerously.

"Hey… who… are… you?" I asked between pants.

His head popped out from on top of the bed, revealing a fairly normal-looking fellow with deep green eyes, a buzz-cut, and a thin, two-tailed mustache. He let his hand flop down, and I shook it tiredly.

"Song."

He left it at that and retreated back to the sanctuary of his bed. I glanced over at Tarra, chuckling tiredly as I shut my eyes and tried to push the aching in my limbs away.

* * *

The next morning, as the Chief had predicted, a good number of bunks were empty. From there, the class was split into two training companies. Luckily, I was put into Company 1 with Tarra, who was the closest thing to a friend that I had. There were around fifteen of us in Company 1, and around sixteen in 2, so we were pretty evenly split.

Officer Sherak, our instructor, quickly proved himself to be an uncompromising man. His appearance was intimidating enough- a short, bushy moustache, with a milky, pale eye that had obviously been grievously injured and an angry hazel eye.

I found that to be unusual. Hazel and golden eyes were usually associated with a Fire Nation ancestry. But, I reasoned, the bending nations have been so mixed up in the United Republic that it doesn't really matter anymore.

We were woken up at five in morning, before the sun had risen fully, by having our bunks lifted into the air and shoved back into the ground, knocking us out of the bunks. We were pushed, shoved, and punched into position. Those that hadn't been in the military were forced into the uncomfortable parade-ground stance, and those that had just assumed the position anyways.

He walked down the line, eyeing each of us as Officer Chunso did the very same thing in the other barracks hut. One by one, he would systematically humiliate, rip down, and force press-ups on each of us. I couldn't help but smirk as the other poor souls were being subjected to humiliation; I had been through this very thing before, in boot camp.

Of course, as I should have known, Sherak noticed my smirk and stood before me, glaring at me with some diabolical mix of amusement and hatred, his face only a few inches from mine.

"Something funny, _recruit?_ " he snapped.

"Sir, no, sir!"

He stepped back a step, eyeing me intently.

"You United Forces?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

He smirked. In a single movement, he whipped his leg at me, aiming a savage kick to my head. Grunting, I blocked it with my forearms, smiling victoriously.

Instead of a look of rage, Sherak smiled broadly, and dread settled in my stomach. Out of nowhere, a pillar of rock impacted with my groin, and I collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain. His boot impacted with my stomach, knocking what little air remained out of me.

He squatted, looking at me with a slight smile.

"What's your name, soldier?"

"Sir…. Suh—Sang H-Hun, sir!" I grunted.

"Sang Hun, huh? You a funny man, Sang Hun? Your name is Sang, so I guess that means you're some kind of musician, huh? Why don't you sing me something, Sang?"

"Yes, sir," I grunted, lurching to my feet as I cradled my painful… boulders.

"SING, SANG!" he bellowed.

My mind raced for something to sing, ignoring the very real potential for humiliation, settling on the United Republic National Anthem that we had always learned in school.

"United we stand, united we fall;

Born from the ashes of the great war.

United in purpose, like the rainfall

We march toward peace, once and for all.

Water, Earth, Fire and Air

The United Republic shall never Despair."

I stood at attention again, just now realizing how corny the lyrics to our national anthem sounded. Officer Sherak laughed raucously.

"I'm gonna call you Recruit Singer from now on, alright? Spirits, you earned it."

My face reddened in both excruciating pain and extreme embarrassment as he moved on down the line.

* * *

Our breakfast was served at nine o'clock, after around four hours of exhausting physical training. My humiliation had been but one in a long line amongst the recruits, but I hadn't been able to live it down in my own mind, even as I struggled to do press-ups, granite curls, and boulder lifts. By the time we were shepherded into the dining hall, I was miserable, in pain, and tired beyond all belief. Breakfast wasn't as good either, with poor-quality rice that was hard and stale-tasting, a small bowl of noodles that looked like they came from a can, and a glass of water.

I sat down at a rough wooden table, wincing slightly as I sat. Tarra joined me, as did Song, to my surprise. I had only ever asked him his name and that had been the extent of our interaction, but I supposed that I would need all the friends I could get.

"How're you doin?" Tarra asked, clasping her hands briefly as she thanked the makers of her meal.

"Better," I said, wincing again.

Song rubbed the back of his head in pain, nodding sympathetically. He had taken a fair-sized rock to the back of his head when he was being abused by Officer Sherak.

"That damned Sherak is a real son of a- "Song muttered.

"What's your story, guy?" Tarra asked, chuckling.

He sighed. His deep green eyes were bloodshot.

"I'm from Xiangshui. I served in the Earth Kingdom Royal Army for a few years, then I moved back to the United Republic after I was discharged. I figured that I might as well put my bending to good use. Plus, you earn five hundred yuans a month."

"Xiangshui? Isn't that near that abbey where they make the perfume?"

He nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand as he fiddled with his chopsticks with the other.

"Yep. The town is a few miles from there."

"I'll bet only rich people get to buy that kinda crap these days. One bottle of those freaking things is like, ten yuans. It's insane," Tarra said, wistfully.

I slurped up a strand of noodles, only to grimace at the greasy, slightly-stale taste. I choked it down, taking a big swig of water.

"Spirits, what the hell is this stuff?"

Song just grimaced as if he had just come from a funeral while Tarra snorted in bemusement.

"It's Flame-O's."

I looked up in despair.

"You're kidding."

"Well, what'd you expect? Gourmet? You can get a cup of Flame-O's just about anywhere these days. I'm sure good old Chief Beifong wanted to cut costs for us sorry recruits so she just bought up a bunch of them from the store."

I smirked, remembering tense days of listening to Shiro Shinobi's commentary during the pro-bending matches.

"Remember, folks," I said, putting on an impression of Shinobi's trademark voice.

"Flame-O's Instant Noodles; They're the noodliest noodles in the United Republic," we said in unison, breaking into laughter.

For a second, among a roomful of tired and miserable recruits, I felt at ease. Sure, I didn't know anyone- Tarra and Song being the closest things to friends- but I still felt relaxed for a brief moment. It was the calm before the storm, and it would be through my friendship with those two and others that would keep me sane during my training.

And, years later, when all seemed lost and everything I knew had been destroyed, I would return to moments like these to find my resolve.

* * *

 **Hey all!**

 **Unfortunately, like I said, it's probably going to be a pretty irregular upload schedule for this fic, so apologies for that. I felt pretty inspired this last weekend to write, so I decided to move this story along a bit more.**

 **I've also done some research regarding Republic City and even gone into detail about monetary value during the 1920s (which is the roughest analogue I can gather from what we see in Korra) to expound on salaries and costs.**

 **Also, point of interest: (will-be) Officer Song is an established character in the Korra canon. He was one of the officers who attempted to arrest Korra in the very (first?) episode. He was also the officer assigned to watch Mako, Bolin, and Asami when (spoilers) Lin and the others go to investigate an alleged Equalist factory beneath the Sato estate.**

 **Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised by the reception I got on the first chapter, so this story will be progressing one way or another, albeit at an irregular pace. As always, feel free to leave a review!**

 **-IGdude117**


	3. Chapter 3: Hard Work

The door clanged on the wall noisily as I bent it away from me. I burst in, my hands in the ready position, my back-mounted spools of metal cords itching to be released. In a single, smooth movement, I slammed into the wall, staring down the long corridor intensely, trying to discern any threats in the foreboding darkness.

"Clear."

Tarra, Song, and a few of the others in my squad filed in methodically, covering the other angles. I felt a soft tap on my shoulder, and I walked down the corridor quickly, my heart pumping as I scanned for threats.

"Open door, right."

I paused at the open door, staying pressed against the wall as Song and Tanro, a tall, powerfully built cadet from a farming village up north, spread out into the room, searching for hostiles. There was a sudden clang, and a soft grunt, and the whirring of metal cords being retracted back into a spool.

"Hostile down, clear."

I passed the door, taking care not to look at what happened inside. I kept walking down the corridor, avoiding the temptation to sprint and get it all over with, reminding myself of the training I had received, and the bruises I had sustained to learn it. My eyes adjusted to the darkness gradually, and a form moved slightly at the end of the hallway. I narrowed my eyes, a grin playing across my lips. The two days of this hell had seen me with only two take-downs to my name, and I knew that would change now.

I began sprinting down the hall, my metal boots pounding against the wood floor, before extending my leg and sliding on the ground, bending the wall to surround the figure, immobilizing him in place with a metal sleeve of sorts as I slid.

I came to a stop, regaining my balance, breathing hard from the exertion, looking back at the others with pride.

The lights flashed on abruptly, playing havoc with my eyes. Dread filled the pit of my stomach.

"CADET SINGER!"

I straightened myself up, ignoring the twitching dummy surrounded by a section of wall as Officer Sherak stomped towards me, fuming visibly. He stood directly in front of me, his face mere inches from mine, with an expression that made me wither with fear inside.

His milky white eye regarded me impassively.

"Cadet Singer, would you please enlighten to me as to the reason I stopped this farce of a training exercise?"

I gulped nervously.

"I… I don't know, sir."

"Oh, you don't know?" he said, almost kindly. "That's alright, that just means-"

He looked towards the others, standing stock still at the attention position, not moving a muscle, before flipping his head back towards me.

"THAT YOU'RE A COMPLETE _MORON_ , CADET! YOUR LITTLE EXCURSION THERE COULD HAVE KILLED YOUR ENTIRE UNIT."

I was sweating now, hard.

"H-how did I…"

"GOOD SQUAD MEMBERS _TALK TO THEIR SQUADMATES_ WHEN THEY'RE MAKING A MANEUVER," he bellowed, his face red and furious.

He punched me in the stomach, utilizing his metalbending to accelerate his fist so that it knocked the air out of me, forcing me down to the ground, doubled over in pain as I vomited loudly on the floor.

A savage kick caught me in the ribs, forcing me onto my back as tears of pain filled my eyes and waves of pain coursed through my body.

Sherak spoke again, his voice softer and sickly-sweet.

"Cadet Tozawa, take this piece of scum to the infirmary. Maybe he can ruminate on his lack of communication while he gets healed."

* * *

Tarra sat by my bedside, smiling reassuringly.

"Hey, at least he didn't hit you in the balls again?" she said, smirking.

I laughed, and then winced, due to my broken-but-healing rib.

"Tarra," I said, after a while. "I don't think I can do this."

Even after having been healed somewhat by the resident waterbender, my physical pain had been replaced by a somehow worse mental one. We had been training for nearly a month now, and I had accomplished little more than getting slapped and punched around by Sherak and his cronies. I had been sent to the infirmary, with around half of training company 1, five or six times, and I was no closer to becoming a metalbending cop.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this job."

Tarra noticed the grim expression on my face and frowned.

"So… what? You're just gonna _quit_? After all of the things those bastards have put us through? You're gonna quit?"

Incredulity crept into her voice as shame crept into mine.

"I- I just…"

"Don't," she said, warningly. "Don't crap out on us like that."

"Tarra, I-"

She stood, looking at me angrily.

"Why did you come here?"

"What, I don't-"

"You know what I mean, Sang Hun."

I sighed, a pang of pain ripping through my stomach.

"I wanted to join the best damned police force in the United Republic."

She smiled slightly.

"That's what we all want. We all want to serve with the best, and the best don't crap out when things look tough. I'll see you in the barracks."

With that, she turned and left, leaving me alone with my _very_ conflicted emotions.

* * *

Training progressed slowly. Agonizingly so. The eighteen week training period dragged by with all the grace (and smell) of a seasick lion-whale. Each day was characterized by brutal periods of physical exercise, calisthenics, and training exercises, followed by hours of classroom instruction on topics ranging from legal procedure to criminal code.

Despite Officer Sherak's seemingly intense hatred towards me, I improved. Training had a way of doing that to you. The attitude I came into the service with- one of arrogance that I had experienced everything I could experience in the United Forces, was gradually stripped away from me until I learned to work closely with my team and to approach every situation with a cautiousness and reservation that hadn't been present in the United Forces.

Unlike my relatively idyllic time in the UF, Republic City was the closest thing to a warzone you could get in the United Republic of Nations. Of course, the Fire Nation had its own Triad problems and 'peacekeeping missions', and the Earth Kingdom was more or less a lawless slum, and the Water Tribes had their… whole icy hellhole thing going on, but the United Republic was as quiet as you could get.

Republic City was where all of the chaos was concentrated. Anarchists, Triads, Terrorists, religious fanatics, the whole shebang. It was all there in the city I had grown up in. Like I mentioned before, I never really was involved with the Triads, but it was all around me growing up. Bouldertown was, being mostly made up of Earth Kingdom folks, under the purview of the Terra Triad, and it was more than common to see their green and gold hotrods roaring down the street in a perverse imitation of the Earth Kingdom Royal colors.

Yet that was the city I grew up, the one I loved more than anything. I still remember going downtown with my father, looking out upon Yue Bay at the Avatar Aang memorial statue, or at the glittering spires of Varrick Industries and Satoru Enterprises. I remember watching matches at the probending arena with my mother, yelling and screaming with delight until my throat was ragged and dry.

I remember the people, hardworking and passionate, trying to live their life in their new home, far away from the dozens of towns and cities all across the world, invigorated by the promise of equality and freedom.

It sounds cliche now, but I think that it was this passion- the desire to see the city I loved be safer and more prosperous, that helped me through training. Well, that and my friends.

Tarra and Song went from being fellow cadets in shitty situations to some of the closest friends I've ever had. By necessity, we came to rely on each other at all times and view each other as something akin to siblings.

Song talked about growing up by the so-called 'perfume temple, and how his mother had once been a nun before leaving and marrying his father. His life sounded a lot like a book or a play; a rustic, simple life that was transformed after he lost his parents to a bandit raid. After that, he had joined the Royal Army and had spent three years fighting bandits and raiders before he was discharged and gained his citizenship in the United Republic, hoping to find a better life.

Tarra's story was similar, in many ways, to both of our stories. Though she had grown up in the same borough as I had, 56th street was closer to the heart of the Terra Triad. Strangely, though her parents were both from the Northern Water Tribe, her father had been part-Earth Kingdom, and somehow the trait of earthbending had been passed to her. Though she didn't talk about it much, she never denied that she used to run delivery jobs for the Terra Triad and that her upbringing had been a difficult one.

We all became a close-knit group of friends, and even though our respective careers took us to wildly different places, we stayed friends through it all.

* * *

The starchy, stiff gray uniform pressed against and pinched my skin uncomfortably, but I didn't particularly care. Today, eighteen weeks of hell finally paid off, and I couldn't be happier.

The crowd behind us muttered to each other excitedly- filled to the brim with parents and relatives who had been beaming with pride the whole time. I supposed I couldn't really judge, though- I was grinning like a fool the entire time.

A form in plated metalbender armor stepped to the podium, silencing the crowd. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite place him.

"Greetings cadets of class 587! My name is Captain Saikhan, and it is my honor to congratulate you on your graduation from the Republic City Police Department Metalbending Academy!"

The crowd applauded and we stood from our seats, saluting stiffly. Some of the other cadets muttered excitedly; Captain Saikhan was infamous for the Luna Avenue Last Stand, where he and his partner held off dozens of gangsters until backup arrived.

He gestured for us to sit.

"Being an officer in the Metalbending Police Force is to be part of the elite protectors of this city. If the patrol officers and detectives of the RCPD are the shield of this city, the men and women of the MPF are the spear. Your jobs will be difficult ones; sacrifices will be made and blood will be spilt, but from this moment until you decide to end your valiant service to this city, you will be the paragons of this city's sense of justice and equality."

There was more applause, and Saikhan opened his book, and we stood, preparing to take the oath we had all waited for so long.

"Repeat after me."

My chest swelled, and I glanced at Tarra and Song, grinning.

"I hereby swear to serve and protect the citizens and inhabitants of this city and this Republic..."

"...as an officer of this city's police service without favor or affection, malice or ill will."

"I will keep the peace in my community until I am legally discharged, and will, to the best of my ability, prevent the disruption of peace and community in this city."

"I will, to the best of my abilities and knowledge, uphold the law of the land and justice overall, as the spirits are my witness."

Saikhan closed the book, saluting stiffly, causing the crowd to erupt into thunderous applause and fill my heart with pride and pure, unadulterated joy.

* * *

My apartment was bare, with heaps of boxes and suitcases where I still hadn't finished unpacking. I had gotten the place for a steal- 20 yuans a month with a heater and a fully functioning kitchen. Of course, it was dirty as all hell and I swore I had seen a grass-roach once, but it was all I could afford for now.

I stumbled in the door, supported on both sides by Song and Tarra respectively, each as drunk as I was. It had been a long night of drinking with our fellow graduates, hopping from one bar to another, each time buying rounds of drinks and cheering other cadets from both the Metalbending Academy and the regular Police Academy, who had also had their graduation.

The buzz from the Fire Whiskey was still roaring through my veins and I yelped in surprise as Tarra stumbled, causing me to bang my knee on the wall as we closed the door behind us.

"W-Wash ith, Tharra… That...Thath a bran-new waww."

"Wuhh?"

I laughed uproariously. Collapsing onto the small futon in my bedroom in exhaustion, my uniform crumpled and smelling suspiciously like noodle broth. We had, at one point, met up with some newly-minted patrol officers and had all gone to Narook's Seaweed Noodlery to try out his new Sake Sour Noodles, which had gotten us a lot drunker than usual.

I hugged Tarra and Song.

"We… we did it guysh… we're meadowbendin' police officas naow… haow about tha'?"

" _You_ did it… Sa… Sang. _We_ did it…" Song said, a mocking incredulity in his voice.

"Tomorrow's oua firtht day… y'all r- *hic*- readyyy?" Tarra hiccuped.

"I've been… r-r-ready all… my life!" I said, enthusiastically.

Of course, I was drunk off of my mind, otherwise, I would have been a lot more ready for the crazy turn my life was about to take.


End file.
